As you may or may not know, America’s only privately owned and operated commercial airport is located in Branson. It opened right around a year ago, and from what I can tell everything seems to be going well. The Springfield Business Journal has a write-up on the expansion of flight at Branson airport, and it also made Robert Poole’s recent Reason Foundation newsletter on airport issues.
Kansas City has considered this idea, and it would be wise for St. Louis to consider it as well. The idea that only the government can operate our airports may be deeply imbedded in public opinion, but private operators could certainly undertake airport operations if given the opportunity. Hopefully (and apparently), Branson will show us the way.
